Mystic
by jen81265
Summary: What if Cassandra the Seer was a contemporary of Fred and George? She soon finds that George to be a bit more than she can handle, though she is quite welling to try.
1. George, Quidditch, and Leprechaun Gold

**Mystic**

Author's Note: I own nothing related to Harry Potter. This is just my own fantasy.

Set in The Goblet of Fire

Chapter one – George, Quidditch and Leprechaun Gold

"Cassie, wait up," George ran to catch up as Cassie made her way out of the great hall. As usual, everyone gave her a wide berth. There was no chance that she would accidentally touch anyone's hand, or bare arm.

Cassie turned to see the red-haired Weasley coming up behind her. "Summer was so boring without you," he said.

"Now, that's a lie, and I didn't need to read your mind to figure that out," she glanced at his face as she continued towards the stairs. "If you were so lonely, you could have sent me an owl."

"I don't know where you stay during break," he said, feigning a look of hurt dismay. "You, however, could easily have written to me. I'm sure an owl would have had no trouble finding the Burrow, and then I could have sent you a reply."

Cassie stopped and faced him. He had been following so closely behind her that they bumped into each other. "George, when we hugged goodbye at the end of term, I accidentally touched your hand. I already knew that you wouldn't write to me. So, what would have been the purpose?" She turned and continued towards the stairs.

"Prophecies don't always have to come true, you know," he called after her. "You could have taken a chance," he started after her. "Chicken," he whispered in her ear as he caught up with her.

"Speaking of prophecies, how did my little tip pay off for you at the World Cup?" She smugly glanced back over her shoulder as they ascended the stairs.

"Not so well as one might think, and lower your voice," he said as they approached the crowd gathered outside the portrait of the fat lady. "Bagman paid us in leprechaun gold. You would think that you would have seen that one coming," he scowled at her. "Balderdash," he called to the portrait.

"I only saw you and Fred ecstatic over Ireland's win, and Krum's catch of the snitch," she smiled at his discomfort. "I saw nothing of wagers, gold or duplicity. Besides, you know my visions are imprecise snapshots of the future. It's not like I can dial up the weather forecast." She started forward as the portrait swung open.

"On that note, there's something we'd like to discuss with you," George said, climbing in after her.

Cassie was about to ask what that might be when she heard Fred call from across the room. "'Oy, Cassie, over here." She saw Lee Jordan and Fred already seated in some of the squashy armchairs in the corner. George turned towards them and motioned for Cassie to follow.

She hesitated for moment, then thought, "What the hell, no one else is going to invite me to join their group."

She selected the only remaining armchair in the trio and made herself as comfortable as she could while still keeping an ample distance between her and the boys. "I'm afraid to ask, but what is it you need," she leaned in towards them, "Or shall I read your future?" As she already knew they would, both Fred and Lee unconsciously pulled their hands away. She could see George out of the corner of her eye and he didn't even seem to flinch. This was what had made her notice him last year.

Usually any prophecies she had were of impending doom and disaster. Not many people wanted to know of the forthcoming death of a loved one. Even the smallest premonitions she had were usually not of the sunniest sort. Failing midterm grades, detentions, lost quiditch matches, and unfaithful lovers were more the lot. For that reason, most people made sure that there was no skin-to-skin contact between she and they, for even the smallest brush of a hand gave her a vision into their tomorrow.

But last year when she had bumped into George in the crowded hallway outside of transfiguration, he hadn't jerked away, and the vision that she had had of him had been the first one to ever make her laugh. When he asked her what was so funny, she had described the flashes of the future she had seen in which he had transfigured Malfoy's books into rabbits which had quickly scattered throughout the great hall before the Slytherin student had a chance to recapture them.

He laughed with her and thanked her for the idea. She had studied him intently for a moment and then warned him to not proceed with the prank until Snape had passed through the great hall so that he wouldn't receive detention. When she watched the scene unfold before her the next day, it was exactly as she had envisioned, with the exception of the aforementioned detention.

George had seen her watching from one of the balconies and had silently saluted her before turning back to watch the mayhem of his making.

They had had other encounters in the spring and they had all been the same. Small moments to make her laugh, nothing terrifying, no horrible deaths, suicides, or murders. It had been a great relief to finally have some sort of human contact that didn't lead to the way of insanity.

She focused on the triangle of young men now seated around her. "What is it now," but she already had an inkling as to what they were going to ask.

"We want to know if you can help us figure out how Dumbledore is going to prevent underage wizards from entering the Triwizard Tournament," Fred looked at her expectantly. "George volunteered to help"

Cassie glanced up at George sitting on the arm of the chair she was seated in. She loved looking into his blue-green eyes and the face that didn't grimace whenever she came close to him.

"I'm not sure how ethical this is, guys," but then any excuse to hold George's hand would do.

"We're just looking for the chance to enter. It's not like you're helping us to get picked by the judge," George said, kneeling before her and holding out his hand. She looked into his eyes and just as before, there was no fear. She lightly laid her fingertips against his and closed her eyes, trying to make sense of the flashes of color that flooded her mind. "You have a long white beard, and a mustache," she whispered.

"That's too far in the future, Cassie, lass," she heard Fred say distantly, and then a "Hush" from George.

"No, I can see parts of the great hall in the background, and Lee looks the same, but Fred has a beard also."

"Well, obviously, you two took too much aging serum." Lee said as she broke contact with George. "Only a drop or two would be enough to age you two sufficiently to fool the judges."

George was still watching her from his kneeling position in front of her. "Did you see anything else?" he asked her softly. Sometimes he was so serious it was hard to remember that this was the same lad whose exploits filled half a filing cabinet in Filch's study.

"No, no rabbits, no melting cauldrons, no leprechaun gold." She resisted the urge to touch his hand again, and rose instead, backing away. "I'd better go now. It's getting late."

"Would you like someone to walk you back to your tower?" he called after her.

"No, I'll be okay. I've never gotten lost before." She walked backwards towards the portrait hole, keeping him in her sight as long as possible before climbing through. She then began the long walk back to the tower.

Please Read and Review

Jen


	2. The Tower

Chapter Two – The Tower

Her tower. When her parents had brought her here at the age of eight, in an attempt to save her sanity, Dumbledore and the other professors had prepared the tower for her. It was one of the most secluded ones and she had the tip top room in it.

When she first came to Hogwarts, it reminded her of the tower Rapunzel had been secluded in in the old fairy tale. Her parents had told her the tower was to keep her safe. Not from other people, like Rapunzel, but from their thoughts. For prophesizing wasn't her only gift.

At the age of eight, Cassie had begun to hear the whispers of other minds. Just tell tale murmurs at first, like the wind rustling through the last few remaining fall leaves.

But soon that gentle breeze had grown into a roar and then a deafening hurricane. Everyone's fears, desires, obsessions, anxieties, and random thoughts rushed through her mind until she couldn't form a coherent thought of her own.

It quickly became apparent as her talent manifested that she couldn't control it.

The tower at Hogwarts was prepared. It was cushioned, padded and enveloped with every blocking charm, silencing spell and enchantment that could be thought of.

She arrived, sedated, and unconscious. When she awoke in the tower the silence in her mind was almost as deafening as the voices had previously been. She was able to breathe again and she didn't leave the tower for the next two years.

She'd been at Hogwarts since she was eight. The first two years she spent in the tower. Her room was spacious, luxurious and secluded. Professors Snape, Flitwick, and at first Trelawney came to the tower to tutor her in her lessons.

Professor Snape worked with her on suppressing the thoughts of others so that perhaps one day she could lead a normal life. Professor Flitwick taught her charms to protect her mind in case her mental defenses broke from the stressful onslaught of others' anxieties and fears. It quickly became apparent that there was nothing that Professor Trelawney could teach her.

At the age of ten, she began to take her meals in the great hall, usually when it was the least crowded. She hadn't been sorted so she drifted from table to table. Sitting one day with one house, the next day with a different one. Watching, observing the other students. Analyzing their traits and behaviors, she tested her ability to keep her mind secure and their thoughts at bay.

At eleven, she began potions class with a group of first years, a trial period, to see how she would adjust to a schedule of classes, studying and socializing.

At twelve, she joined the new first years, of which Harry, Hermione, and Ron were a part. But she still wasn't sorted. She had no house alliance. She needed the security and solitude of the tower each night. She needed to relax her guard and her defenses, without the worry of a school full of thoughts flooding into her tired mind.

Then last year, George had invited her into the Gryffindor common room at the end of term to discuss the upcoming World Cup.

An unnatural silence had greeted her when she had stepped through the portrait hole that first time. For though her ability to hear others' thoughts wasn't common knowledge, everyone knew of her ability to prophesize.

She hadn't been as careful as she should have been those first few years.

If she brushed against someone in the hall and had a vision she thought could be prevented, she might whisper a few words of warning. "You've forgotten your potions essay and Snape will be furious. He'll give you detention if you don't run back to the library and get it." Or "Don't sit beside Neville in Transfiguration. He'll have trouble today and accidentally turn all your sweater buttons into ladybugs. It'll be quite awkward when they all fly away." Now as helpful as these words of advice might seem, they were not greeted with the enthusiasm you might think, and the rumors spread like wild fire. Then when she offered condolences to Pansy Parkinson on the loss of her aunt before the woman had actually died, she might as well have been signing her own death warrant.

At first some thought she was actually causing the problems herself with jinxes and curses. But then some sharp eared upperclassmen with a good memory remembered the girl who had been secluded in the tower and why.

But George had quickly broken the silence in the Gryffindor common room that day by offering to negate anyone's need to have their future told due to their very short lifeline. Fred had merely mentioned their need to practice a few new curses on any willing or unwilling volunteers. Before long everyone went back to their previous conversations, studiously avoiding Cassie's gaze.

That day, when Cassie had pressed her fingertips to George's in an attempt to gain knowledge about the upcoming World Quidditch Match, she knew she was losing her heart.

But she also knew she couldn't tell him. For even though every encounter she had with him had great significance in her mind, she knew it was only a moment's distraction for him.

So she had decided instead to be happy with the friendship they had and try not to read too much into any chance remark he might make.

That was why when he offered to walk her back to her tower, she knew she should treat it as only a courtesy and decline his help. No reason to bring awkward 'goodnights' into this equation.

Still, a girl could dream couldn't she……?

All reviews gladly accepted.

Jen


	3. Potions

Chapter Three – Potions

The morning had been rainy and Cassie had been dreading Potions all day. There was nothing worse than going into the dungeons on a day that was already dreary. As much as she cared for Professor Snape, nothing could brighten the mood cast by the cold granite walls of the potions chamber.

But if it wasn't for Snape, she knew she would never have been able to gain control of her emotions and shutter away the powers that had threatened to engulf her as a child. The private occlumency lessons with him had been her saving grace. The lessons continued but were now focused on learning to control her powers instead of them controlling her. She had kept her mind locked against others for so long that now she was finding it impossible to reach out and touch the mind of another.

But those lessons were conducted in her room not the dungeon. No, she was here now, for her potions lesson with the fifth years…And even her gratitude to Snape wasn't making the descent down the dungeon stairs any easier. The one bright spot was seeing George in the hall before class. He had said to meet him in the Great Hall at dinner. With that in mind, she began the long journey down the stairway in to Potions.


	4. Crystal Balls, a Red Bra, and a Couch

"Chapter 4 – Crystal Balls, Red Bras and a Couch

Cassie was thinking of the following day's celebration when she entered the Great Hall for dinner. The Halloween feast was always her favorite holiday meal. The elaborate carved pumpkins, the swarms of bats, the multitude of sweets – she loved it all. This year there was the added excitement of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

Tomorrow morning the students would have the opportunity to put their names in the goblet and then at the feast, the names of the three champions would be announced. It was because of these distracting thoughts that Cassie almost miss George as he hailed her from across the room.

Oy, Cassie," George began.

"We saved you a seat," Fred chimed in.

As much as she enjoyed listening to their uncanny stereo conversations, it was George's voice that she preferred. She could just sit and listen to him talk all day. It didn't matter what the topic was. Just the tone of his voice gave her a sense of safeness.

However, so that she wouldn't appear to have a head full of fluff, she decided she'd better focus on the conversation. Good thing, really, since it seemed to involve her opinion.

"So, what do you think?" Fred was saying.

"What? Sorry, mind drifted for a moment there. Could you repeat that last bit?" She glanced up at George, but realized her mistake as she became mesmerized by his smile.

She pulled her attention back to Fred. It was easier to focus on what he was saying to her.

"We're having a bit of a communication problem with an acquaintance of ours. We thought perhaps a bit of crystal ball gazing might help clear the air…or read the tarot cards, or you know, hold George's hand, whichever you'd prefer.

"You know I don't read tarot cards or crystal balls. It helps some people focus their talent but I've never had success with them," Cassie explained.

"Well, there you are, then. That leaves George," said Fred as though that settled everything.

George smiled apologetically as Fred stood to leave. "Finish dinner and then meet us in the Gryffindor common room so we may peruse the future."

Cassis watched the twins, joined by Lee Jordan, head towards the staircase in the entrance hall.

_Well,_ she thought, _it's a better prospect for this evening than working alone in my room on my History of Magic essay._

When she entered the common room she could see Ron and Harry huddled around their copies of Unfogging the Future working on their predictions for Professor Trelawney.

"I could help you with that," she whispered as she passed by.

"That's alright," Ron replied nervously as she paused beside the table.

She studied Harry's, then Ron's chart. "Decapitated, then drowned, I see. Busy week. Sure you don't want some help. My predictions wouldn't have you dying more than once, I'm sure."

"That's what I'm afraid of," said Ron as he reclaimed his chart.

Cassie shrugged and continued towards the corner containing George, Fred and Lee, seated as usual in the squashy arm chairs.

"Been a bit," said Fred as she walked up. "Thought you weren't coming."

"Stayed for chocolate and coffee. It's been a long day. I needed the extra caffeine." In actualality she had slipped up to the tower to change. She doubted anyone would notice that this school sweater was sleeker and more form fitting but it made her feel prettier. Plus the matching red sweetheart bra and panties gave her a boost of confidence.

She surveyed the three occupied chairs and arched an eyebrow.

George, being more observant, caught the subtle hint. "Care to join me?" With an easy flick of his wand, the armchair he was seated in stretched into a loveseat for two. He was still slouched comfortably back across more than half of the seat so when Cassie sat down their legs were touching. Despite the fact that it sent warm sparks up the length of her leg, George seemed not to notice.

He did, however, notice when Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet entered the room. Cassie studied him as he watched the pair cross the common room to the stairs that led up to the girls' dormitories.

It was a quick, cooling reminder to her that this was a one-sided infatuation and the twinges of jealously were a warning that she needed to be careful.

"What did you two have in mind?" she addressed her remark to Fred in an attempt to remain indifferent to George's apparent pre-occupation with Katie and Alicia.

"We've had a bit of a misunderstanding with Mr. Bagman. As George has told you, Ludo paid us with Leprechaun gold, quite accidentally, I'm sure. But, now, we can't get an answer to our letters. We thought perhaps that you could advise us on the best way to proceed without insulting or alienating him."

"We've been through this before, boys. I can no more give you an answer on a specific problem than I can predict tomorrow's weather."

"Well, yeah, maybe, Cassie, lass, but it seems that the odds would improve if you had a chance to increase the number of predictions you make about ol' George here. You two just hook up, get comfortable, and predict away. Lee will take notes."

Cassie glanced warily at George. He had been unusually silent during this recitation. "How do you feel about this?" She watched his eyes.

He stared back unflinchingly and held up a long-fingered hand. "I'm game if you are…"

So for the next hour Cassie described scene after scene, vision after vision, pausing and breaking contact with George only long enough for Lee to catch up on his short hand.

Nelville turning into a huge yellow canary; great sparkling Catherine wheels tumbling through the hallway; a swamp in a corridor; nicked sweets and butterbeer; a wicked snowball fight involving half of the Gryffindor occupants; frenzied dancing in the great hall; vision after vision flooded Cassie's mind. She was about to admit defeat and exhaustion when the next vision revealed a dark and crowded bar, a flash in a mirror, Bagman in the reflection, Fred and George hailing him across the room…But then Cassie's arm was jostled as Nelville bumped into the newly formed couch. The vision was gone as Cassie's hand slipped and she lost contact with George's fingertips. She sadly reported that she didn't know how the meeting with Bagman ended.

"It's okay, Cass, at least we know to look for him at _The Three Broomsticks_ in Hogsmeade," said Fred.

"You look exhausted," George said as he hauled her to her feet. "Let me walk you back to your room. It would reflect poorly on us if we sent you off on your own and you fell over a railing somewhere."

Cassie smiled as a vision of hundreds of white lab mice swarming out of the Slytherin common room distracted her from the discomfort of the new red bra that was beginning to chaff.

"Your bra itches?" George questioned, perplexed.

Cassie felt her face begin to burn. She must be more tired than she thought. "I can't believe I said that out loud."

"Well, I'm guessing it was out loud, but I also had quite an image to accompany it. Of course, ninety percent of my time is spent imaging girls in and out of their underwear."

Cassie couldn't believe George had made that last confession aloud, either. Her gaze strayed from his soft full lips to his hand which was still gripping hers tightly. Such strong hands.

"Thanks," she heard him say, but it took her several moments to realize his lips had not been moving during any of their conversation.

Then, from the look of shock on his face, Cassie realized that George must have just come to the same conclusion. Their conversation had been held totally in their minds.

""""""""""""""""""""""""

Please review and let me know what you think. Was the vision sequence written in an understandable fashion? I know this is George –centric but I love the twins. Let me know what you think, good or bad. Also, let me know if I've made any mistakes on any of the facts about Hogwarts.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: As always, I must say, that I own nothing about the Harry Potter world. I only wish I could live there. Or at least meet the twins somewhere.

Picnic

Cassie had turned and ran when she realized that night that George could read her mind. She had been running all week. When ever she saw George in the hallway, she did a quick about face and disappeared into the crowd. If she heard him calling her name in the corridor, she kept walking, and for the first time in years she began taking her meals in her room again.

Not even the announcement that Harry Potter had become the fourth champion in the Tri-Wizard tournament had brought her one step closer to George.

Although, she did watch from a secluded balcony as Fred and George put their names in the goblet. She wasn't a bit surprised when they sprouted beards. It was just as she had foreseen.

She even resisted the urge to join in with the celebration in the Gryffindor common room when Harry's house celebrated his champion status. She knew Fred and George would be the lead revelers.

Finally George cornered Cassie one day as she was leaving transfiguration class. "Cassie, we have to talk…" Cassie dodged to the left, but George blocked her with his arm and when she feinted to the right, he literally backed her into a corner. "We can't ignore this," he continued.

His voice sent shivers down her spine. Since he was so much taller, it was easy to avoid looking into his face, but something about his tone caused her to look up. The intensity upon his face and in his eyes was what finally persuaded her to walk with him and talk about what had happened between them. That, along with the realization that as long as they weren't touching, their thoughts seemed to re-main private, gave her the courage to face him. Despite having heard the thoughts of others for years, it was unnerving to imagine that George might have access to her thoughts.

They continued to wander the corridors as everyone else made their way to supper. "Do you think it'll happen again the next time we touch?" George glanced over at her, carefully keeping his hands clasped behind him.

"Possibly, probably…" Cassie watched George's face for his reaction, as they wandered down the marble stair case to the Great Hall.

"Wicked!" he grinned.

"Wicked? Do we really want this to happen again?" she questioned, disbelieving his reaction. "Being able to know each others' feelings and thoughts." It was actually the feelings part that Cassie was the most worried about. If George knew how she fantasized about him she wasn't sure if she would be able to face him again.

"I can't think of anyone I'd rather share my thoughts with." He said as he led her down one of the lesser traveled corridors. The softness of his voice had her straining to catch his words. When she did, she still wasn't sure that she had heard him correctly. It was finally the solemn expression upon his face that persuaded her of his sincerity.

Cassie looked up to discover that they were standing in front of a portrait of a bowl of fruit. "Feeling peckish?" George asked, as he reached out to tickle the pear.

The response of the kitchen house elves was overwhelming. They quickly presented George with a fully packed picnic basket. He took the bulging basket and they headed back to the now deserted transfiguration classroom.

George laid out the blanket, lit the enclosed candles, and piled their plates with food. Cassie laughed. "How many people did you tell them were with you?"

"I actually only asked for food for myself. We wouldn't have been able to carry the basket if they knew I had company with me." George took a bite of an apple and tossed one to Cassie.

Cassie caught it and rolled it back and forth in her hands. It had been hours since lunch, but she was too nervous to eat. With George sitting only inches away, she suddenly realized how totally alone they were in the deserted classroom.

Sensing her discomfiture, George put down his plate and gave Cassie his full attention. "Listen, I don't know what really happened between us last week, but I don't plan to spend the next two and half hears not being able to touch you."

Cassie thought about his statement. On the one hand, touching and sharing their thoughts might lead to accidentally revealing her fantasies, which would be bad. On the other hand, touching might also lead to the actualizations of those fantasies, which would be good. She would only be embarrassed if George didn't have the same feelings for her. His comment that he didn't want to spend two and a half years without her hinted that he might have feelings for her, also.

Cassie rose to her knees and held up her hands. "Do you want to give it another go?"

George joined her in the middle of the blanket, hands raised, fingers splayed. "I'm game if you are."

Their bodies mere inches away from each other, Cassie tentatively reached out to meet George, finger tip to finger tip.

The vision that greeted Cassie caused her to blush and quickly re-enforce her defenses to prevent any images or emotions from slipping through her barriers. A shirtless George rose above Cassie in her vision. Broad shoulders, well defined pectoral muscles, nipples hard, but lips soft as he leaned down towards…who? Just because she was having the vision about George, didn't necessarily mean she was the other person in the duo, she realized.

Another flash of George in the dark, breathing heavily in unison with….Why wasn't she getting any glimpses of the other person?

Cassie licked her lips and heard George whisper in her mind, "Well, see anything interesting?"

"Nothing I care to share at the moment." She knew his face, his lips, were only inches away from her own. It would be so easy to turn and brush her lips against his.

That thought, for good or bad, must have slipped out, for now Cassie felt George's lips tentatively being pressed to her own. Her mouth parted as his tongue flickered along her lips. Their tongues touched as subtly as their minds.

Careful not to break their fingertip to fingertip contact, Cassie opened her eyes and stared into George's blue-green ones. "Nice," she whispered aloud.

"Wicked," he agreed as he leaned forward into another kiss.

TBC…


	6. Chapter 6 Charms Corridor

**Mystic**

Sorry that I've taken so long to update. Hope you enjoy.

Author's note: I own nothing in the Harry Potter universe, except Cassie and a desire to visit there.

Chapter Six – Charms Corridor

Ron was reaching for a pitcher of pumpkin juice as Cassie and George joined the group at the breakfast table. Harry was sitting a little apart from his friends, Cassie noticed, but Ron and Hermione appeared to be deep in the middle of a conversation.

"Anything, but spiders would have been okay." Ron was referring to their first lesson with Professor Moody. "Why couldn't he pick something like crickets, or millipedes for instance. They have a multitude of legs, if that's what he was looking for."

Cassie joined the table, sitting in the empty spot between Lee and Harry. George approached on the opposite side of the table whacking Ron in the back of his head with his back pack as he passed by. George took the empty seat across from Cassie.

"Ahhh. Spiders again, is it?" said George.

"George and I turned Ron's teddy into a giant hairy spider at the apparently very impressionable age of five. He's never recovered," explained Fred.

"Really?" questioned Cassie, glancing across the table at George.

"Well, you had to have known Ron at the time. He was a great prat, even at five," George explained, but he had the good grace to look slightly abashed as he said it.

"Well, I'm sure he was," conceded Cassie. "I' m just impressed that you were able to accomplish such a major piece of transfiguration like that at such a young age. That would suggest quite a bit of talent." She bit into her toast as she continued. "That's probably why your mum was so incensed about your dismal showing of O.W.L.s. She knows what great potential and talent the two of you have."

She paused in her chewing as she noticed George studying her intently. "What?" she questioned.

"How did you know that mum was in a tizzy about our O.W.L.s? We haven't mentioned it?" George glanced at Ron, who shook his head vehemently and slid sideways away from the trio.

"First the comment about me not writing to you and now you know about the O.W.L.s." George watched her closely. "You've had some visions you haven't told me about."

Cassie noticed he said, 'me', not 'us'.

George put down his fork. "Friends don't keep secrets, Cassie."

"Now, what good would it have done to have told you either of those things? You couldn't change your OWL results." She finished her toast and poured more juice, splashing a bit on to the table.

"That's not the point," George said, flicking some of the spilled juice in her direction. "The point is that we don't keep secrets."

"Secrets can be good sometime," she grinned at him, remembering the bare-chested vision she'd had of him the previous evening.

George rose and grabbed his backpack, knocking Ron into his plate again. "Come on," he smiled. "I'll walk you to class. We need to discuss this further."

Cassie met him at the far end of the table. George linked fingertips with her and waited while she sorted through the scene that flashed before her. He raised his eyebrows in question and Cassie noticed with relief how much easier it was to convey her vision to him without the burden of spoken words.

"A dungeon, Snape's, your class, but it's chaotic. Melting cauldrons, a fog of vapors, several students splashed by a potion – they're covered in boils."

"Excellent," said George as they started up the staircase that led to the Charms corridor. "Nice to know I haven't lost my touch."

"Now, wait," protested Cassie, making sure that she kept a firm grip on his fingers. "This means you were present, not that you caused the events. It could have been a complete accident. Someone might have brewed their potion incorrectly."

George waved off her protests with his other hand as they topped the staircase and started down the hallway.

"I'm beginning to feel that I'm escorting you down the path of miscreant behavior. Instead of me foretelling your future, I'm leading you to it."

"You can't take all the credit, Cassie, lass. I already had that idea from listening to Percy wax on and on this summer about the dangers of thin-bottomed cauldrons, so don't be trying to grab all of the glory," he grinned at her. "I've just been trying to decide when that little experiment might be used to my best advantage."

With the Charms doorway looming ahead, George stopped short and pulled Cassie into a deserted alcove. Before she realized it, his lips were warm on hers. Their lips parted and tongues met in silent exploration. His pushed more urgently against hers. Since they had maintained skin to skin contact since leaving the Great Hall, Cassie had no annoying visions distracting her. She could concentrate on the feel of George against her. She raised her free hand to his chest, and felt the hardness of the muscles that she'd seen in her vision the night before.

George lowered his hand to her waist, his thumb just slightly below her breast. Cassie wanted to moan, but decided the best thing to do might be to come up for air. She opened her eyes, looking into George's, bright with excitement.

Resisting the urge to lean forward into his embrace again, Cassie whispered, "I've got to go, Professor Flitwick is waiting."

"Look for me at lunch," George said, silently, just before she broke contact with him.

But, Cassie knew she couldn't. She had an occulemency lesson in the afternoon with Snape. She would need all of her lunchtime to prepare herself. With her emotions this close to the surface, Snape would pick up every image of her encounter with George. And this was a subject that she did not want to share with Snape.

One day she would have to tell Snape that she could read George's mind, (and he could read hers!) This just might be the key that could help her unlock and control her talent.

But today was not the day that she wished to discuss it.


	7. Chapter 7 Secrets

Mystic

_Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Harry Potter Universe._

_Author's Note: Please read and review. Any reviews are good reviews. It's nice to know if anyone is reading this._

Chapter seven - Secrets

Cassie was prepared and waiting when Snape arrived in the tower. She stood in the center of the room as he pretended to inspect the new tapestries she'd hung on the wall.

"You weren't at lunch." He watched her from the corner of his eye as he continued his examination of her new furnishings. "In fact, you've missed several meals in the Great Hall lately. It's been a while since you've felt the need to seclude yourself up here."

"Nonsense," she stared straight ahead. "I merely have been using the extra time to study for History of Magic and my Charms class." An image of Pansy Parkinson teasing Cassie about her lack of cleavage flitted through Cassie's mind.

"Really?" Snape again feigned interest, this time in a vase atop Cassie's dresser. "Nothing else bothering you?" His eyes drilled into hers as he put the vase down, and turned to face her fully.

"No, nothing." Lavender Brown and Pavarti giggling as she walked past crept into her mind. "Nothing a little extra studying won't cure."

"Having trouble with your classes?" Snape studied the round room, then moved towards the sitting area.

"No more than usual." Cassie followed and conjured a tea set onto the coffee table as she took the seat beside him on the chaise. "We can't all be Hermione Granger, now can we?" She poured him tea.

Snape picked up the tea cup and sipped as he surveyed her once more. He wasn't fooled by the images she had deliberatively let slip out. He gave a final nudge against her defenses but all were intact and he couldn't extract a single independent image.

He put down the tea cup and turned to face her. "Ready?"

Cassie nodded, and Snape increased the intensity of his search. Her mind withstood the onslaught. Her defenses were growing stronger and he knew only a very accomplished occulemist would be able to break through them.

But that was the point of these lessons – to increase her barriers so in the event that anyone tried to force her to reveal another's secrets, that she would be able to resist them. Snape knew however, that Cassie still was not strong enough to withstand the mind of the Dark Lord. If he returned and learned of Cassie's abilities, she wouldn't be able to block him. The best she could hope for was that her mind would break and madness would ensue before she was forced to read the minds of the Dark Lord's enemies or reveal any of their secrets or her prophecies that might be of use to the Dark Lord.

Really, the best that she could hope for was a quick death.

"Good job, Cassandra. I know you are hiding something from me but I don't know exactly what. Your turn."

Even as Cassie had been training to block other's thoughts, she had also been working on learning how to extract useful pieces of information from another's mind.

The trouble was, if it's an uncooperative subject, how do you know what important information they're hiding. Also, how do you do this without shattering their mind in the process?

There was no fear of her breaking Snape's mind, but the question was, what was the important information that Snape was guarding. When she first began her lessons with Snape he had hidden treasures in the castle and the only way Cassie could find them was by reading Snape's memory of where he had hidden them.

Gradually, the difficulties of the tasks had increased. Now, she knew that he had a secret that he didn't want to reveal. But what would it be? Flashes of memories, Snape's disdain for Harry, a brown haired woman, a tattoo on an arm, she felt Snape flinch, and a wall sprang up. Then Cassie had it, a pop quiz in potions tomorrow. If she could somehow spread the warning to the other fifth years that she took potions class with, then her popularity would definitely increase.

Maybe Supper tonight would make up for skipping Lunch.


	8. Chapter 8 Pig Latin

**Mystic **

(Reviews Greatly Desired.)

Chapter 8 - Pig Latin

Cassie practically skipped down the stairs leading to the Great Hall, buoyed by the success of her occulemency lesson. She was looking forward to seeing George during dinner, not to mention the chance to warn her fellow potions' classmates about the impending pop quiz.

She spied George and Fred further along the table chatting with Lee Jordan. Cassie stopped first to apprise the Gryffindor Fifth Years about the potions test before joining George at the other end of the table.

"You're in a chipper mood," Fred noted, looking up from his chicken pie and pumpkin juice.

"Missed you at lunch," commented George nonchalantly. He watched her take the seat opposite from him.

Cassie grinned, as she reached for the basket of hot buttered rolls. "Missed me? Really?"

"Well, more in the sense of 'didn't see you', not the 'longing for you' kind of 'missed you'" George explained. He grinned wickedly across the bread basket. "Then again if you feel the need to comfort me, I know of a place dark and secluded where we can go." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Ix-nay on the unnel-tay," Fred said in pig latin. "Angelina and I were planning on a visit there after dinner. She's promised to help me with my Charms homework." Fred punctuated his statement with a jab towards George with his steak knife.

George neatly blocked Fred's jab with a saucer. "I don't think so. I'm pretty sure the tunnel will be free this evening since you copied my charms homework last night, and since you still owe me for the time I tested out the formula for the Jolly Jock Itching Powder."

"Ohhhh! Definitely more information than we needed," said Ron, taking the seat next to George.

"That was a tough one," conceded Fred. "Alright, but that puts us square. Tunnel's yours for the night. I'd better go break the news to Angelina. Tell her that the tutoring session is off." Fred grabbed a muffin and rose to leave.

"What were you two babbling about?" Cassie questioned. "Was that some kind of twin-speak or were the rest of us supposed to understand what you were talking about?"

"Cassie, love, you wound me." George jabbed an imaginary dagger through his heart. "I have just procured for us the finest and, more importantly, most secluded accommodations for this evening."

"Accommodations?" she questioned.

"You do want to continue our research, don't you? Somewhere we won't be disturbed." George rose from the table and curled his finger in a motion for her to follow him, grinning wickedly.

"Well, it would be unfair to stop in the middle of our research, especially since we haven't explored all of the available options," she agreed. Her appetite for food replaced with a desire for something else, Cassie followed George from the Great Hall and up several staircases. He paused beside a statue of a hump-backed, one-eyed witch and held up one hand. Cassie touched his palm lightly and trailed her fingers along his life line.

George closed his eyes at her touch and breathed deeply to slow his heart rate. It was like that every time he touched her. His pulse quickened, his blood pressure rose, and he ached to hold her. Lee Jordan and even Fred wondered why he would risk the revelations of disaster that they knew that Cassie was capable of, but George knew he couldn't give up the rush he received every time they touched. He was becoming addicted to the high that she gave him.

He opened his eyes and wondered what vision was unfolding inside her head. Then he 'heard' her inside his mind. "What did you want so badly to show me?" she teased. He grabbed her hand more firmly and raised his wand with his other hand. Tapping the statue with his wand, George whispered, "Dissendium." The statue slid aside revealing a dark tunnel.

George pulled Cassie into the tunnel and darkness enveloped them as the witch slid back into place. The blackness was so complete that she couldn't see a thing despite the fact that she knew George was standing mere inches away from her.

George took her other hand in his and raised them both up to his chest. "I'm right here," he said, sensing her disorientation.

When she started to run a hand across his chest and into his shirt, he moved both her hands away and pressed them back against the rock wall of the tunnel. "Uh-uh…not yet."

Leaning closer, he began to kiss her lightly, running his tongue along her lips, and when she parted them, he tentatively darted her tongue inside. The taste of him enveloped her. All of Cassie's senses were focused on him. His fingers entwined with hers, he pressed against her as they leaned back against the rock wall. She could feel the warmth of his body through his thin shirt. She could feel him subtly rubbing against her. It excited her to know that she was the cause of the hardness she felt pressed against her stomach. She could hear him in her mind, though for the last few seconds, their communication hadn't been anymore organized than "Yes…", "there…", "More…", and "Oh My God."

She could feel George carefully breaking the kiss so they could both come up for air. He released one of her hands so he could touch her cheek. "Maybe total privacy isn't such a good thing for us," he said, rubbing against her again. He pushed a knee between her thighs, and she gladly welcomed the pressure.

"Maybe it isn't," she agreed, turning to kiss the palm of his hand. He slid his hand down the front of her shirt, stopping at the first button.

"Is this the bra that itches," he asked, manipulating the tiny mother-of-pearl button with ease.

"Yes," Cassie whispered, her breath catching in her throat.

"Can't have that," he said, unfastening the subsequent buttons quickly. Cassie wasn't sure if she was going to be able to withstand the sensations flooding her senses as George ran his hand along the skin just above the top of her bra. She looked into his green eyes and saw the question there, the petition for permission. To heighten the experience even more, she also felt his desire in her mind.

Now, where as it might be easy to verbally deny to a person how badly you want something, when the person you're with can read your mind, and therefore your desire, then it becomes impossible to say 'no'. He could hear her permission in his mind, even if she had been able to force herself to say 'no'.

George flicked open the front closure on Cassie's bra and slipped both hands inside her shirt. He leaned down and kissed her again. She moaned into his mouth as he cupped her breast and teased her nipples with his thumbs.

At that moment, Cassie was startled to hear the scraping of the witch statue as it opened. Then Fred's voice calling, "Sorry to interrupt. We've got a minor emergency."

George turned, shielding Cassie with his body. "Someone had better be bleeding," he snarled.

"It's Lee," Fred explained. "He ate a cream and turned into a canary, but hasn't turned back." Fred shrugged. "It's a bit of a setback, I'm afraid, and he's making a huge mess in the Common Room. We're running out of newspapers to put down on the floor."

When Fred had withdrawn, George turned to find that Cassie had already re-buttoned her shirt.

"It's just as well," he sighed. "I don't think my heart could have withstood the pressure too much longer." He kept a small but noticeable distance between the two of them. He realized he missed the contact of her mind, and wished that he didn't have to ask the next question out loud. It was so much better just being able to hear the truth in her mind. "Any regrets?"

Cassie grinned. "Only that we had to stop."

George smiled, relieved that she wasn't having second thoughts about their intimate encounter. He was going to have to have a serious talk with Fred and Lee when got back to the Common Room. They obviously didn't know the definition of "Emergency."

"


End file.
